The Blinding Desert Sun
by Silver Butterfly 111
Summary: It started slowly at first, nothing that foreshadowed how awful it was to become and he realized it too late to stop anything. Kevin's story. (Spoilers for episode #73 of Welcome to Night Vale)


**AN: Merry day-after Christmas for those who celebrate it. Here's my Christmas present for you. Brought to you by the horrible StrexCorp. Rated T for meantions of blood and implied brainwashing. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **"StrexCorp? That faux friendly big business corporate monster? Don't talk to me about them. StrexCorp is the worst!" (Welcome to Night Vale #73)**_

It started slowly at first, nothing that foreshadowed anything sinister or how awful it was to become. A few of the smaller businesses signed contracts with Strex. That was the way business worked but that didn't mean Kevin had to like it. But he had to tolerate it, and he would do so as long as he could.

 ** _"StrexCorp Synernists, Inc._**  
 ** _Look around you: Strex_**  
 ** _Look inside you: Strex_**  
 ** _Go to sleep: Strex_**  
 ** _Believe in a Smiling God: StrexCorp_**  
 ** _It is EVERYTHING." (WTNV #32)_**

Kevin frowned at the bright orange flyer that had been stapled to almost every light post and committee bulletin board in town. "Strex!" He hissed mockingly, spitting the name out like it was something bitter. The company motto sounded more like a disease, a virus.

* * *

 ** _"You know they've been trying to buy the radio station? Can you imagine how awful that would be?" (WTNV #73)_**

He supposed it would have only been a matter of time, Strexcorp had made him an offer to buy the radio station, it had just been a simple meeting with a man in a black and white suit who had a smile boarding on unnerving and creepy but Kevin wasn't one to judge the way people smiled.

"You seem like a very productive person, Kevin, so I'm going to make you an offer so that we can be productive together, you just get so much more done when you work as a team, don't you think!"

"Yes, of course." Kevin replied, eager to agree with the man just so that he wouldn't have to sit here and deal with the man's weird smile longer than he had to.

"I'm so glad you agree!" The man replied in his chipper tone. So then, will you sign?" The man asked tentatively eager as if he was asking for some sort of favor he wasn't sure would be granted. Suddenly there was a contract in front of Kevin and a yellow pen in his hand.

Something told him not to sign and he recalled his conversation with Cecil. _I would never let that happen. I would never._ Kevin looked down at the contact. Strex would be the only sponsor of the radio station, they would pay for everything even the remodeling and the amount they were willing to pay was astounding.

He'd be a fool not to sign.

' _I would never.'_

Kevin frowned and bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. _Good business relations be damned!_ He slammed the pen down on the table and pushed the contact back towards the Strexcorp employee. I refuse to sign." The Strexcorp employee's mouth twitched, other than that his smile didn't falter. "That's very disappointing." He quipped in his over-cheery tone. "I'm sorry I disappointed you." Kevin replied, tone icy, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now I have a radio show to broadcast."

"Of course!" The man chirped like a happy little songbird. "I'll come back later and perhaps then you'll be in a more agreeable mood?" Kevin might have imagined, the threatening undertone that the man's voice took before he stood up and walked briskly out of the room. He left the contract and the pen and the contract.

* * *

"Can you believe it, I actually tried to stop them from buying it! I tried very hard. I put my own body, this fragile thing, in between the Strex representatives and the entrance to the building, but they forced their way past me using ethically brutal methods that left me forever physically changed." (WTNV #73)

There was a crowd of them, wide smiles, shining teeth and black and yellow business suits, the kind of people you wouldn't think capable of any sort of violence, but they had knives clutched in their hands, their grips on the deadly instruments were white knuckled. Their smiles never faltered.

"Let us through, please, Kevin it's so much more productive if you cooperate!" Kevin shook his head vigorously, but that wasn't the only thing that was shaking, he watched as they closed in around him and then everything went dark.

* * *

He awoke in a dark room bound to a chair and then a cheerful voice echoed softly in the darkness and try as he might he couldn't see a body that the voice might have belonged to. "Good morning, Kevin." "It's a very beautiful day outside would you like to see the sun Kevin?" And just like that Kevin was aware of just how ominous the pitch black room was, it was eerie on a suffocating level.

The sun? How bright would that be compared to this pitch black? He wanted to see the difference.

"I will help you see." The disembodied whisper reassured him.

* * *

Kevin blinked, he opened his eyes fully, he was in the conference room of the radio station. He must have fallen asleep, goodness that wasn't very productive at all! He shook his head, the echo of a dark room and a voice tickled the back of his mind. Goodness what an awful nightmare!

He glared at the contract one last time before deciding to go home and think more about signing it in the morning after a good night sleep.

* * *

His kitten Kuzco meowed at him as he opened the door, the kitten rubbed up against his legs and purred with joy. Kevin smiled and leaned down to scratch his beloved pet behind the ears. It felt so good to smile! "Who's a good boy?" He cooed to his cat, Kuzco mewed in reply and Kevin grinned wider and scooped up the small and fluffy animal. Cradling him in his arms as he walked towards the bedroom.

Leaving the door open a bit so that the light from the living room cut a sliver of yellow across the bedroom floor he used one hand to pull back his blankets and got into bed, Kuzco continually purred and nuzzled more comfortably between the warm sheets and Kevin.

And this is how Kevin fell asleep.

* * *

"Kevin?" His eyes snapped open and he was back in the darkness and that voice was trying to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"Kevin don't you want to see the sun?"

Kevin shuddered.

He wanted this nightmare to stop.

"Wouldn't it be _wonderful_ to be happy all the time Kevin? Smiling is always so much better than frowning and being sad... don't you think?"

"Well yes but I-."

"I'm _so_ glad you agree." The voice cheered.

"Where am I?"

"Somewhere the sun will shine brighter!"

Kevin looked around him, but it was still pitch black. He raised an eyebrow, staring into the darkness where he guessed the voice was coming from.

A bubbly laugh came out of the black. "Oh, silly you won't see it right away, you have to be patient!"

"Can you be patient?" Kevin jumped as he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. "You'll see soon." The voice reassured... Kevin became aware that the hand on his shoulder felt wet... was that the smell of blood? Surely not..that would be horrible, but before he could be sure he blinked and was back in his bedroom.

* * *

Jolting into a fully awake state he instinctively touched his shoulder where he could feel the ghost of that other hand, his fingertips came away tinged with red, he jerked away from his own hand, eyes widening as he blinked rapidly. How was this possible?

Then he realized another fact. One perhaps more frightening than the red on his fingers. His bedroom lights were on, the bedroom door was open...and Kuzco wasn't in the bed.

Had someone broken into the house?

There was the sound of something falling off his desk and he jumped, clutching his heart as it temporarily stopped beating.

Something was _definitely_ in here with him.

"Kuzco?"

A faint mew answered him and he relaxed if only a little.

Then something else scuttled into his field of vision, peaking out from behind his desk.

It was fuzzy and had shiny black eyes-like a duck-, it looked at Kevin without moving or making a sound.

Kevin tilted his head, the corner of his mouth twitched with the beginning of a curious smile, a strange little giggle escaped his lips part nervous part relief.

"Well hello there little friend, how did you get in here?" The animal looked at him in silence.

Then Kevin noticed that the animal had little needle-like claws and darker patches of fur mixed with the paler brown. His smile turned concerned, he untangled himself from his blankets and stood, inching toward the animal, careful not to startle it.

He knelt and gingerly reached out to run his hands though the creature's fur. It was sticky with blood.

Was that how he'd gotten blood on his shoulder? Had this thing crawled over him in his sleep? He stood and the thing followed him to the corner of the room where the light switch was attached to the wall. Kevin turned to turn off the light, half convinced that if he turned off the light and went back to sleep that this bizarre set of events would turn out to a dream. He flipped the switch.

There was a click.

The light was still on.

Kevin moved the switch again.

 _Click._

The light stayed on.

Kevin threw his hands up in defeat. Fine if the light wanted to be broken he'd just have to deal with it and sleep with the light on.

He turned to go back to the bed... and froze.. he'd seen something in the space between his desk and the wall. Something small and fluffy with red patches staining it's gray fur.

"Kuzco." Kevin whispered with horror. The other animal made no sound but Kevin felt the small creature sink it's claws into the skin just above his ankle. "You don't have to be afraid of Kuzco, he's harmless." Kevin reassured the other animal misreading it's action as one of fear instead of one of hatred.

He felt his own blood on his skin and tears beginning in the corners of his eyes.

Physical and emotional pain mixed within him, resulting in an odd numbness, he shook the strange creature off of his ankle and knelt down to pull Kuzco's body out from behind the desk. The kitten gave a half-hearted yowl of protest against being moved.

Kuzco looked at him beseechingly and then spotted the other creature that clung to his beloved master and he hissed, turning his wide yellow eyes on Kevin once more, bright glowing orbs shining with the sense of one who'd been betrayed.

And it dawned on Kevin what had happened. This _thing_ had not been injured. The blood on this strange creature's fur was not it's own, it was Kuzco's.

He felt his stomach clench with horror. How had he let this happen? How had this monster gotten in here?

He jerked his leg in an effort to dislodge the creature's claws and hissed through clenched teeth at the pain, but the creature did let go and Kevin stood up, Kuzco still in his arms and limped toward the door, slamming it shut before the creature could follow.

Kevin carried Kuzco's body though the kitchen, and out the backdoor, the backyard, the garden shed and a shovel.

Kevin buried his beloved kitten in the backyard under the watching eye of the moon, strangely he didn't cry at the loss of his pet, he just felt that odd numbness.

He went back into the house, casting a murderous glare at his bedroom door where he could hear that _thing_ scratching at the wood with his claws in an attempt to gain sympathy.

It could stay there and rot for all he cared!

He made a futile attempt to turn off the kitchen light but it seemed to be having similar problems like his bedroom light. He growled in disgust as he turned his face to stare up at the lights accusingly.

He sighed in defeat and pressed his back against the kitchen wall, sliding down against it until he was sitting on the floor. Banging a slow insistent rhythm with his skull against the wall, squeezed his eyes shut against the tears.

The scratching of the creature's claws on wood, the banging for his skull on the wall, pain to distract himself from his grief for his poor Kuzco. _Bang, scratch, scratch bang._ It sounded like a gloomy off-key musical number.

* * *

He'd called into work the following morning, claiming it was for personal reasons. Intern Vanessa had been sympathetic and had wished him to make a speedy recovery, she also mentioned that she'd found the StrexCorp Contract on the conference room table and had placed it in a file marked 'think about it later'.

Kevin hung up the phone.

He didn't want to think about that contact, not now. Especially not later.

He had a headache, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night, that creature had stopped it's scratching sometime in the early morning.

Kevin would have been relieved but he still refused to sleep for fear of that dark room and the strange voice.

He didn't go anywhere near his bedroom, this meant that he wasn't able to access his closet. He was still wearing the same suit that he'd gone to bed in last night, he wandered into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

Eyes red from crying and loss of sleep.

Left shoulder of his shirt stained with dried blood, he started down at his ankle, also covered in dried blood from where the creature's claws had broken skin.

He didn't see a point in trying to do anything about his ruined clothing. Besides that... _thing_ was still in his bedroom and he wasn't going to go anywhere near that _thing._

* * *

"Kev, you made it, you feel okay?" Vanessa's inquiry had been automatic and she'd made it without looking up from the stack of news reports she'd been examining.

"Thank God, now I don't have to worry about saying something else stupid on the air." She added, laughing at the joke she made at her own expense….."unless you've really not feeling up to it I can try...Never know if you can do something if you don't try, right?"

Kevin couldn't find anything to encourage her with so he said nothing at all and stood there awkwardly, watching Vanessa don the bulky sunshine-yellow headset and take a deep breath before she finally looked up…

And screamed.

Kevin jumped, confused as he watched Vanessa's pale face go paler, her small mouth curved into an 'O' of shock and her ice-blue eyes widened with fright. Fright? How odd she had no reason to be frightened towards him.

"Hi." Kevin said. _That was a very inadequate response to the situation._

Vanessa ignored the words that had come out of his mouth and continued to stare at him as if unsure what to make of him, as if he was a stranger.

He saw her throat expand and contract as she took a shaky breath.

"Kevin?...is that blood on your shirt?"

 _Oh. That would explain the weird reaction._

He'd forgotten about the blood on his shirt.

"It's noticeable then huh?"

Vanessa stared, once again struck mute by the bizarre sight of her superior so disheveled.

She examined the rest of his appearance.

The dark bags under his bloodshot eyes, something had ripped the bottom of his pant leg to shreds. He looked like a zombie.

She would have lied, but lying wasn't a nice thing to do.

"You look awful."

"Thanks for the honesty."

"Are you sure you're okay being here?"

"I'm not going home, I'm here now I might as well help."

"Well okay, if your sure," Vanessa gave Kevin a soft smile and pulled the headphones off of her head, offering them to Kevin. He shook his head. "You'll be okay there's only a few minutes of the show left," Kevin squeezed her shoulder and gave her a reasureing smile. "The practice will be good for you, we can switch places for a day, I'll be in the booth if you need me I can just cut to the weather."

Vanessa gave a little nod and tried to look determined.

"Vanessa dear, where did you go?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Great," "I thought she'd take the hint and leave."

"It's very rude to leave your guests alone, we really should talk abou-"

The voice's owner appeared in the doorway, emerging from the hallway. Kevin caught sight of the StrexCorp logo on her t-shirt and a wave of disgust seized him. What caught him off guard was the fact that this woman didn't appear to have eyes! Her eye sockets were completely black. How could she even see?

Kevin glared at her for a moment before he had the presence of mind to at least attempt a false smile.

"What is she doing here?" He asked Vanessa, whispering out the side of his mouth.

"Contract discussion, she wanted to talk to you but when I tried to explain you weren't here she seemed to forget English."

"Oh, you must be Kevin. I've been wanting to talk to you!"

"So I've heard."

The woman offered her hand for Kevin to shake. "I'm Lauren Mallard, your local StexCorp representative."

"I hate you." Kevin said, fake smile still in place.

Lauren frowned for just a moment before the weird smile returned to her face. "Hate isn't a very productive emotion Kevin, but I'd like you to know that at the moment the feeling is very mutual."

Kevin dropped his forced smile and just settled for glaring at the woman, no point in keeping false pretenses if they felt the same toward each other.

"Then you should have no problem leaving." Kevin crossed his arms.

The woman clicked her tongue and shook her head, "Fortunately I can't," She waved her hand around in the air, displaying a white piece of paper like a surrender flag. "According to this I'm your new management!"

Everything stopped.

Vanessa's grip tightened on the yellow headset a moment before she flung it down on the desk in front of her. "How...did? Shit!" Vanessa bolted from the room. Shoving past Lauren.

Kevin watched her disappear before he turned back to Lauren. "I didn't sign that."

Lauren righted herself and moved further into the room, examining every inch of it before moving to take the spot that Vanessa had just fled from.

Lauren drummed her long yellow polished nails casually on a stack of folders. "I have lawyers that are prepared to say otherwise," she held the paper closer to her, unable to hide her smirk. "It _looks_ like you signed it." She said, fringing innocence.

"Forging signatures is illegal. Kevin said.

Lauren just shrugged, "You'll thank me later."

Vanessa reappeared in the doorway. "She broke the lock on the filing cabinet Kev."

"Delightful." Kevin muttered.

Lauren just grinned as always, immune to Kevin's sarcasm.

"StrexCorp would be happy to pay for a replacement when we begin the redecorating process." Lauren said, looking around the room a second time. Kevin was far too exhausted to argue with this woman.

"Get. Out."

Lauren's grin stretched. "Sure thing, Kev."

"Don't call me that."

"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine!" Lauren said over her shoulder as she disappeared.

Vanessa looked at Kevin. "You okay Kev?"

Kevin felt that false smile slid into place again, he felt that odd numbness growing in his gut where anger and dread should have been. "Just peachy."

* * *

"Good Morning, Kev." Lauren called as she waltzed into the booth.

Kevin ignored the woman and instead sought out Vanessa's reassuring smile from where she stood on the other side of the booth. She gave him a thumbs up and grinned harder.

Kevin new it was a faked smile, but it seemed to help him find the politeness to face the woman who had seated herself in the chair next to his.

"You didn't show up yesterday." Kevin said by way of greeting as he began to organize the papers on his desk. "Oh silly Kev, that's because Mondays are lies! Horrible, awful lies, who lied to you Kev?"

"I thought I told you not to call me that. Only my friends call me Kev."

"We are friends!"

"I consider you a mere coworker, our relationship has to remain as professional as possible, my feelings toward you are by no means friendly."

Kevin could hear the frown in Lauren's voice but when he turned to look at her the smile hadn't fallen from her face, it seemed she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her acting anything but happy. It disgusted him, was she even human? Surely no one could be happy _all_ the time. "I'm sorry you're so up set about these changes Kevin but I promise it will get better."

 _It will get better when I kick you out of town._

"Can't wait," Kevin said, voice deadpanned. "If you don't mind, I need to do my job." He signaled Vanessa and there was the sound of a button being pressed as the On Air sign flickered to life.

* * *

"And now a word from our sponsors: StrexCorp. Do you feel like running? Hiding? Go ahead running is good cardio and hiding shows you're resourceful and aware of your surroundings, we'll find you eventually, probably by using the computer chip we installed in your brain while you were asleep. StrexCorp: We'll find you and bring you to your happy place."

There was a buzzing sound.

"Kevin?"

Kevin felt Lauren go stiff in the chair beside him as he felt his own spine go rigid.

 _Cecil?_ Before Kevin could learn the identity of the voice that had floated into the recording booth, there was a knife to his throat.

"Say anything I don't like and we'll see how you look on the inside." Lauren's voice whispered in his ear.

Kevin swallowed carefully and cast a glance toward the window where he could see two men in suits standing behind Intern Vanessa who was petrified and frozen like a statue, looking at the two of them with terror but unable to move to help Kevin or to run and save herself, meanwhile Cecil's voice floated through the speakers.

"Kevin? Kevin? I don't think he can here me anymore."

Lauren moved the knife away from his throat, far enough that he could respond.

"You don't think _who_ can hear you anymore?"

"Thank the lights in the sky Kevin, you're still there. I need to warn you about Strex-"

So it was still one of those stray radio signals, Cecil was still talking about what they'd been talking about years ago, he was unaware that so much time had passed for Kevin. Kevin was very aware of the knife pressing into his throat again. Cecil's warning had come too late. It was too late.

"Warn me...about Strex? Why would you ever need to warn me about an honest family business like Strex?" The knife came away from his throat and he saw Lauren bring the blade down on the mess of wires on the back of the speakers and Cecil's voice was cut off. She leaned into the microphone.

"Listeners its Lauren, Kevin has to take a little break he's...quiet...shaken up about something that has occurred and we have to fix the broken speaker now, luckily it was just the incoming audio speaker that was damaged but the out going audio is working fine so you can all still listen to the weather!"

 **Today's Weather: Bird Song- Florence + The Machine**

"I'm back listeners, it's Lauren. I decided that Kevin needed a break, so I gave him the rest of the day off but don't worry he'll be back soon and he'll be just fine."

* * *

 _ **"Even the ones that resisted the most at first soon found that they loved the Smiling God more than anyone." (WTNV #49)**_

Kevin closed his eyes against the dark it made absolutely no difference.

There was a second hand, on the opposite shoulder this time, he felt fingernails digging into his shoulder blades.

 _No. Not this again. Please. I will suffocate in this darkness, it will drown me._

"We can stop the darkness, we can save you, worship the Smiling God."

 _What was that?_ What on earth was the Smiling God?

"Look upon the Smiling God Kevin."

And then then light rushed into his eyes, and he was forced to look at it. Look at it until his eyes burned.

And that was the only thing he would ever see again, everything had gone translucent, everything dulled, became outlined in that light. Like the sun, but brighter.

 _Oh, god, oh Smiling God._

He'd gone blind, he couldn't blink or close his eyes, his eyes which had been scorched black by the power of the Smiling God.

He should have cried. Should have sobbed from the pain of the light against his eyes, should have begged them to stop, but he couldn't stop smiling. There was a sudden sharp pain as he felt a needle pierce his arm, he flinched but oddly he didn't feel any sort of pain all he felt with a blissful, joyous delirium every other emotion was choked out by that odd numbness.

* * *

 ** _"It makes me very unhappy to be unhappy, I'm much happier being happy." (WTNV #73)_**

It was better this way. It was best if he didn't try to remember who he'd been. The past didn't matter, only the present and the future mattered.


End file.
